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Pastor Sadie Takes Sabbath
- Pastor Sadie Cullumber
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Read here about Pastor Sadie's Summer 2025 Sabbatical
It’s been an incredible 8 years of ministry at Harbor and I am excited to have a rest time from April 26-July 26.
I want to thank Harbor for acknowledging the need for sabbatical when you are a pastor. It is a unique vocation and it is truly a blessing to serve a church that sees this. Sabbatical can end up being really expensive for pastors, and so I was thrilled to receive a Clergy Renewal Grant from the Lilly Endowment.
The Clergy Renewal Grant provides money to the pastor on sabbatical for things like travel, books, food and lodging, etc. The grant also provides funds to the congregation to replace the sabbatical pastor in their absence, and to purchase curriculum and materials for a congregational project during the pastor’s sabbatical.
Harbor was awarded nearly $60,000, $15,000 of which will go toward paying for my replacement and the congregational project. The remaining $45,000 is for my travel, food, lodging, and materials while on sabbatical. Whatever we don’t spend of this money will have to be returned to the Lilly Foundation.
Because of having to change my sabbatical dates due to the upcoming Interfaith Climate Action Festival on October 12, 2025, I had to change some of my plans. This is allowable under the grant, I simply have had to share the changes with them and seek approval. Below I am listing my new plan for you all to see. I am also listing the books I will be studying while on sabbatical, a link to a retreat I am participating in and a link to a continuing education program I am going to participate in after the sabbatical.
Sadie’s Sabbatical Plan
France
On April 26, I will leave for Paris, France with my pastor friend, Rev. Courtney Armento. We’ll be staying in Paris for about a week before heading to the south of France. After a week in the south of France, we’ll be coming back to Paris to participate in Christina Cleveland‘s Black Madonna Retreat.
During my time in France before the retreat, we’ll be in Paris for a few days to see the sites and rest. And then we’ll head to the south of France where we plan to do more resting and also visit a few sacred sites for Mary Magdalene, including the Saint-Baume cave (grotto), Basilica of Saint Maximin la Saint Baume, and Basilica of Mary Magdalene.
On May 7, we’ll fly back to Paris to begin the Black Madonna Retreat which will be led by author Christena Cleveland. The week will include teachings and time for spiritual reflection in addition to visits to sacred sites including Our Lady of Good Deliverance, Our Lady of Peace, Our Lady of Miracles, and Our Lady of the Underworld.
The black Madonna retreat will end the morning of May 13. And I’m delighted that my friend Maria will be arriving that morning in France for a conference of her own. We’ll be able to spend the day together in Paris before I fly home the next day!
When I arrive home, I’ll get to spend the next couple of weeks preparing for Indigo‘s graduation and all of the festivities. I’m really looking forward to getting to do this without having to worry about church things. We also will have some of Ryan’s family in town visiting for Indigo‘s graduation.
Mexico
After Indigo graduates, Willow will have her promotion and then I plan to take a short, relaxing trip likely to Mexico. This will just be a time of rest and my friend Courtney will be traveling with me as well.
Because my friend Maria is bringing her youth group out from Maryland from June 28 to July 5, I plan to be around during that week. I won’t be doing a lot of work, just mostly enjoying our ministry and my friend.
Machu Picchu (Peru)
In mid July (we have not yet purchased tickets) my family will be joining me on a final leg of the sabbatical. We will be heading back to Europe and are still deciding if it will be Italy, Greece, or Spain. We were originally thinking of Greece (once I had to change my original sabbatical plan), but with all the earthquakes we’ve been a little spooked. This time of sabbatical with my family will be relaxing and also very active. I should have more details about this leg of the trip by our next gathering on March 30 and I am looking forward to sharing that with you.
Throughout my sabbatical, I plan to focus on a few things. The first being, the connections between body, mind, and spirit. I have been casually studying the art of somatics for several years now. As part of my sabbatical, I plan to begin a somatic experiencing program through The Embody Lab (see link below). This program expense has also been included in my sabbatical money.
What I'm Focusing On
The other theme of my sabbatical study is around developing a deeper relationship with two women of scripture. The first woman, being the mother of Jesus, the Madonna. And the second woman being Mary Magdalene, a disciple and dear friend of Jesus. Throughout my years in seminary and the last almost 10 years of ministry, I have been inspired by a reclaiming of the feminine parts of our faith tradition. So much of the power and work of women has been erased, ignored, or completely shunned. And I am extremely excited to not only get to visit some amazing sacred sites, but also to get to study and read about these two women in particular.
What I'm Reading
I'm listing some of the books that I plan to study while on sabbatical in the hopes that you might find one interesting. If you are at all interested in reading along, let me know, and I will look very much forward to sharing reflections with you and hearing your own.
God is a Black Woman, Christena Cleveland
She Who Cannot Be Shamed, Tamed, or Contained, Christina Cleveland
Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel, and the Christianity We Haven’t Tried Yet
The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman and the Heart of Christianity, Cynthia Bourgeault
The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind—A New Perspective on Christ and His Message, Cynthia Bourgeault
If you would like to read the details of the Black Madonna Retreat, visit this site:
If you’d like to see a selection of courses and certifications offered through The Embody Lab, visit this site:
Harbor's Sabbatical Plan
Associate Pastors Janette and Ryan will be dividing the leadership responsibilities in Pastor Sadie's absence. They will be preaching through summer on the following:
Sunday, April 27: Post-Resurrection stories, Doubting Thomas
Sunday, May 4: Post-Resurrection stories, Jesus on the beach
Sundays May 11-August 24: A Sanctified Art's study curriculum Faces of Faith will take a deeper dive into the lives of some of the characters of scripture that don’t get a lot of air time. These characters include:
Adam & Eve; Shiphrah & Puah; Daughters of Zelophehad; Deborah; Queen Vashti; Shadrach, Meshach & Abednedgo; Jonah; Anna; Judas Iscariot; Penitent thief on the cross; Joseph of Arimathea; Mary Magdalene; Ethiopian Eunuch; Lydia; Eutychus; Philemon
As you survey the faces of faith from scripture, you are invited to name the faces of your own faith and reflect on how they have impacted you. You may wish to name friends, family members, mentors, pastors, public figures, strangers, authors, artists and more. Consider anyone and everyone who has made a lasting impact on your faith. This study will be an opportunity to reflect on and honor all of the faces that have brought you to this moment.
You are encouraged to utilize the study journal that will be provided to you as a way to follow along, journal, and reflect on what we are learning as a community.
Ryan and Janette will be preaching for the weeks that I am on sabbatical. There are also several weeks that members who would like to preach are invited. Please talk with Ryan right away if you would like to be given the opportunity to preach and he will help you decide on the right Sunday that has a biblical character you would like to wrestle with.
Garden Project
Our Land Tending group, led by Caroline has been empowered to continue with our expanding garden projects during my sabbatical. You’re all seeing more pink flags every month as we continue to add native habitat to our church grounds.
Some of our sabbatical funds will be used to buy more plants and materials to continue expanding the native gardens. In addition to adding more pink flags, we also have a few important projects that we need to make progress on during my sabbatical.
Here is a list of projects that can be started and continued during my sabbatical:
Garden Watering Schedule–as our garden grows and we await the funds to redo our sprinkler system, we need more people to help us water in rotation.
Community garden planning–we will have to go to the city for this, so researching the process is necessary (nothing has been officially decided, so if you want to be part of this planning, now is the time to jump in)
Removal of Eucalyptus trees once they have been professionally felled–we need to remove 9 Eucalyptus trees from our front lawn to make room for a future community garden.
Researching watering systems–we will need a new watering system for the community garden
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